


The Trial of Willow Rosenberg

by Sam_James



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Picket Fences
Genre: Gen, Legal, trial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-03-30 07:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3928057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_James/pseuds/Sam_James
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow is put on trial for Warren's murder. The Judge is Judge Bone from Picket Fences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opening Statements

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Buffy, Willow, Warren, Giles, Xander, Lilah Morgan, Wolfram and Hart, Anya, and the general mythos belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and 20th Century Fox. Judge Bone is the creation of David E. Kelley for CBS's Picket Fences.

# The Trial of Willow Rosenberg

by Sam James

Opening Statements 

"All rise," said the bailiff as the Santa Barbara County Judge walked into the room. His dark robes flowed on the cherry desk in front of his seat. "What's our first case?" Judge Bone asked, his voice still firm despite his increasing years.

"People versus Willow Rosenberg," said the bailiff. "Accused of murder, attempted murder, and attempted jailbreak." 

The judge peered over his glasses at the defense table. There was only one small red-headed girl, barely 20 from the looks of her. She had a somewhat sad, somewhat scared, deflated appearance covering an air of curiosity and nervousness. "Are you the defendant?" he asked, somewhat surprised. She certainly did not look like a murderer as she stood and nodded. "Do you have an attorney? If you cannot afford one, the state will provide..."

"I will be her attorney pro bono," came a well-cultured female voice. "Lilah Morgan, from Wolfram and Hart." The judge could not help but give a start of amazement. That firm was known to be extraordinarily expensive and not known for its generosity. He wondered what the girl had done to engage their interest. 

"Certainly not!" the girl was objecting. "I've already chosen to represent myself."

The judge lifted an eyebrow. "Are you an attorney? Or in law school?"

"No, but I've done some research and know that I have the right to defend myself if I wish which I do..." Willow seemed to cut herself off with a visible effort. 

The prosecuting attorney stood up. Judge Bone recognized Carlos Columbia, a young Hispanic attorney with ambitions far beyond Santa Barbara County. The man could barely suppress his eagerness to do a murder case with no opposition, "Your honor, she does have that right."

Judge Bone ignored him and turned to the girl. "You are accused of crimes that could lock you up for life. This not the time to build up a resume for law school. I very strongly suggest you accept Miss Morgan's offer."

"I understand," came the girl's soft words. "But I know what I am doing, really sir." There was an undertone of shattered confidence in her voice.

"Very well," said the judge. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Willow said firmly. 

The Judge turned to Columbia. "Do you wish to arrange a plea bargain?" He was not at all surprised when the attorney answered, "Due to the severity of her crimes, and her clear lack of remorse, the state stands by its charges." Carlos just wants an easy win, the Judge thought to himself. That little girl doesn't stand a chance against him.

Jury selection did nothing to reassure the judge that this was a fair fight. Carlos used his questioning to carefully screen the jury, eliminating anyone from the girl's hometown of Sunnydale, older men who might be swayed by her physical attractiveness, and educated men and women who might see through a lawyer's tricks. This left a prosecutor's dream jury, mostly women old enough to be jealous of the defendant's youth and looks without being old enough to be maternal. Willow asked questions mainly about the juror's religious beliefs. She only threw two people out of the juror pool, a staunch Catholic and, after Columbia had used up all his preemptory challenges, a long-time resident of Sunnydale. That last seemed to shake Columbia up. He looked at her strangely. Judge Bone could not figure this out either. Did the girl want to be found guilty? A neighbor would be less likely to convict her than a stranger. 

The unevenness of the matchup was even more apparent once the trial started. The prosecution had Carlos Columbia and an assistant, plus several others from the district attorney's office on call including expert medical witnesses. The defense table had just Willow. Alone. The district attorney's opening remarks accused Willow of doing unnatural sexual activities with Tara, desiring revenge against Warren for his murder, and then extending her revenge to Andrew and Jonathan. He stressed that the witnesses he had to Willow's revenge were her own friends, reluctantly testifying in the interests of truth, justice, and Willow's own best interest. Finally, aware that his long speech was boring the jury, Carlos sat down.

Willow stood up and faced the jury. "Um," she said and her face grew red. There was a titter from the audience. She turned to them and said, "I'm sorry" and returned her focus to the jury. "My name is Willow Rosenberg. I am 21 years old and not a lawyer, although I am representing myself," her voice gathered strength as she went along. "I did a bit of research on the Internet and found that the prosecution has to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That means, and I'm sure the judge will correct me if I'm wrong, that they have to do more than show that I wanted Warren dead. I admit, I did; he murdered my Tara who had never done anything to hurt anyone." She stopped and wiped her eyes. "But the prosecution has to show more than that I wished him dead. They have to show evidence that I took action and explain what I did. Since there is nothing to prove; they cannot. The prosecution's case rests on trickery and taking advantage of fragile individuals. I ask that the jury consider reasonable doubt and when the prosecution makes outlandish claims and piles impossibility upon implausibility, follow their reasonable doubt and declare me not guilty."

The judge struggled to control his facial expressions. The sole benefit of representing oneself in court was the chance to address the jury without being under oath. So Willow's speech made no sense. The girl did not declare herself innocent; instead she laid down the gauntlet for the prosecution to prove that she was not. Still, the girl did not seem crazed. The judge wondered if he could declare her incompetent anyway and demand that she accept a lawyer. He looked around; Lilah Morgan **was** still in the courtroom.

"The prosecution wishes to call Miss Buffy Summers."

The Bailiff rose. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" 

"I do," said the petite blond. Her movements spoke of quiet strength. 

"What is your relationship with the defendant, Willow Rosenberg?"

"Willow has been my best friend since tenth grade, nearly seven years. We're like sisters. And, I suppose I'm her landlord, she's been living in my house since shortly after my mother died."

Carlos was a bit surprised, the landlord business hadn't come up in questioning, but he decided it was unimportant. He asked a few more questions about their relationship and then moved into the relationship between Willow and Tara, establishing that they were lesbian lovers. Finally he asked "Had you noticed any behavior changes in the last year or so?" 

Buffy gave Willow a guilty look and then said, "Yes, she and Tara were fighting over Willow trying to control her and then when Tara left, Willow started behaving like a junkie."

Carlos leaned over and asked, "Was she using drugs?"

The judge looked at Willow, still seated and silent, and decided to interject, "Miss Rosenberg, you are allowed to object to questions that do not directly refer to matter of the trial."

Willow stood up and said, "I understand, sir, but I do not want to hurt Buffy."

The judge motioned her over to the bench, "Miss Rosenberg, you are on trial for your life. You must think of yourself. If I do not feel you are doing a sufficient job representing yourself, I will be forced to declare you incompetent. And I am very close to doing that right now."

"I understand, but sir, please wait until my cross examination and all will be clear. I know things seem strange right now but believe me. They're going to get a lot stranger." 

Judge Bone looked at her eyes. While her words certainly failed to reassure him, the girl seemed nervous but far from crazed. He raised his voice to address the whole court. "The attorney may continue."

Buffy looked at Willow. "Not drugs, there was never any sign of drugs. But she was behaving oddly and at one point she crashed a car that had my sister in it."

Sensing that the Judge's call for Willow to object meant that Bone thought he was going too far afield, Carlos returned to the issue of Warren, getting Buffy's story about how Warren shot her, Willow's confession that Warren had killed Tara and saying she'll kill him for it, and finally the story about how Willow killed Warren. Throughout her testimony, Willow sat still, not objecting or reacting.

"Warren was tied with some vines, standing up. His chest was wounded, there was blood coming out of a small hole. Willow... Willow... She removed his skin from his body, while still alive. I heard her say, 'Bored now' and set him on fire. He burned up instantly." The jurors gasped.

"Like he was drenched in gasoline?" Carlos asked, expecting an objection for leading the witness, and somewhat disappointed when none came. The girl was not even trying and the game was no fun when the opposition did not fight back.

"I don't know," Buffy said. "He went up instantly. I asked, 'Willow, no. What did you do?"

"And her reply?"

"She said, 'One down,' and vanished in the darkness. I knew she was going after Jonathan and Andrew. I eventually caught up with her, we fought and then Andrew and Jonathan escaped. That's all I know."

"No further questions." Carlos sat down pleased with himself. Buffy made an excellent witness. She was a very close friend of the defendant, moreover had been critically wounded by the person the defendant was accused of killing, so had no reason to lie. 

On the witness stand Buffy gave a sigh of relief. She had managed to complete her testimony by telling the truth without having to mention magic, slayers, or witches. She stood up to leave but saw Willow standing up.

"Sorry, Buffy, I get to ask a few questions, now," Willow said. "But I'll be quick. Don't worry. All you have to do is tell the whole truth like you promised. Are you okay with that, Buffy?" Willow's tone was sweet and motherly. Not that of a friend addressing a friend, but more closer to the tone she used as a teacher.

"Yes," Buffy answered.

"Now you told Mr. Columbia about how we were friends. Could you tell the jury what you tried doing to me on March 12?"

Buffy blinked in confusion. "I'm not sure I remember."

Willow smiled. "Us all in the basement with Tara."


	2. Buffy's Cross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On trial for Warren's murder, Willow cross examines Buffy. Will she expose the slayer's secrets to save herself?

# Buffy's Cross

Buffy jumped to her feet in full defense mode. The whole gang had decided, reluctantly, that human crimes should be met by human justice and that, after everything they did to Faith, it would be hypocritical of them to not to insist that justice be done in the case of Willow. Of course Willow had the right to defend herself, but she had jumped right in to Buffy's weakest point - asking about the events of March 12, "Us all in the basement with Tara."

"Objection!" yelled Carlos, not sure what was going on but not liking the way Buffy reacted. "Leading the witness."

The judge shook his head. "Denied, let's see where this takes us."

Willow ignored the byplay and focused on Buffy. "Don't worry, Buffy. Everything will be okay. You can sit down. No one is gonna hurt you. Just tell what happened."

Buffy sat down, determined to give only minimal answers. "I knocked you unconscious."

"Go on..."

"I tied you up."

"And..."

"And I tried to feed you to a demon... But, that wasn't me. I was being controlled. I didn't mean to." Buffy started crying.

"Of course, Buffy." Willow's voice was soothing. There was a stir in the audience and one of the jurors turned to the other and asked, 'Did she say demon?'

"Now about Warren, you say I removed his skin, how did I do that?"

Buffy was silent. 

"Did I use a knife? A gun? My nails?" 

Buffy shook her head.

"Say it for the transcriber," the judge put in. 

"No."

"Okay, Buffy, tell how I did it." Willow waited. "You did swear to tell the whole truth."

"You used magic."

"Magic? How can I do magic?"

"You're a witch," Buffy said. "You waved your hand, looked at him and frayed him alive." 

The courtroom seemed to explode with everyone talking and the jurors were looking mystified at each other. The judge had to bang his gavel several times. 

"So, I killed him with magic?" Willow asked.

"Yes."

"Objection!" Carlos broke through his shock.

The judge looked at him. "On what grounds?" 

Carlos stood stumped. "I don't know, but the witness must be confused. She's not making sense." 

Judge Bone stared at Buffy and then looked at Carlos, "Miss Rosenberg asked a valid question that followed up an area in Miss Summers' testimony for you. It's opened up some justifiable concerns about the witness that I trust Miss Rosenberg will continue investigating."

Willow smiled at him before turning to the witness. "I have magic powers?" Willow asked Buffy.

"Yes," Buffy was almost crying.

"Do you have supernatural abilities?"

Carlos wanted to object but knew the judge would override.

"Yes," Buffy was sullen. Everything was being exposed.

"Explain, please."

"I'm a vampire slayer with supernatural strength, skill, speed, and healing." The murmurs almost overpowered the sound of the bang as the judge hit the table with his gavel.

"Quiet, or I'll clear the courtroom," Judge Bone said.

Willow sighed. "So vampires exist too?" 

"Yes, of course. Willow you know all this."

"Buffy, don't worry," Willow adopted her soothing voice again. "We're just going over things for the court. Now, could you tell the court where you were in July and August of 2001."

"Objection," yelled Carlos. "This has nothing to do with her testimony."

"Your honor, this line of testimony will illuminate my relationship with the witness and her credibility," Willow responded quickly.

"Temporary denied," said Judge Bone. "But I'll need to see the relevance quickly."

"I understand," Willow said and turned back to the witness. "Where were you and what was happening to you in July and August of 2001?"

Buffy gave Willow an angry stare before saying, "I was in the ground because I was dead. I was in heaven until you pulled me out of it."

Willow expressed surprise. "I brought you back from the dead?"

"Yes." There was no noise from the crowd this time, only a stunned silence.

Willow turned to look at Buffy. "So you're a supernatural vampire slayer and I'm a witch who can kill people with magic and bring them back from the grave too?"

"Objection," Carlos seized on a straw as he saw his case go down the drain. "The witness has already stated this."

"It certainly bares repeating," the judge said. "But Miss Rosenberg do you have any new questions?"

"One more, your honor. Buffy, and I remind you that you swore to tell the truth. Have you ever been institutionalized for delusions?"

Buffy was silent.

Willow sighed. "I don't want to hurt you. Haven't I been helping you all these years? But if necessary I can subpoena the records."

"Yes," came Buffy's faint voice.

"Yes, what?"

"My parents..." Buffy breathed before gathering strength. "My parents put me in an institution when I started seeing vampires. But they were wrong... Vampires exist. Willow you *know* that. You've slayed them yourself." Her voice gathered strength.

"Of course, Buffy," Willow said in her soothing voice. Buffy shivered as she finally placed the tone Willow was using. It was the patronizing tone of doctors to a patient they believed completely insane. "Don't worry, I'll make everything okay."

She turned to the judge. "Your honor, I request that the testimony of Miss Buffy Summers be completely stripped from the record as she clearly is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality."

Both Judge Bone and Carlos Columbia looked at the redhead in astonishment. Carlos recovered first, jumping to his feet and yelling, "Agreed!" His case was being saved, and by his opponent too.

The judge called them both over to his stand. "Miss Willow, the lead witness for the prosecution has admitted to trying to attacking you and shown herself to be completely insane. This should be an important part of your case. If her testimony is removed, Mr. Columbia can start all over again and you can't mention how it is based on the claims of an insane woman. Nor will you won't be able to bring up her testimony at any appeal."

"I understand, your honor." Willow said. "I don't want Buffy to be hurt by this."

Judge Bone could hold it in no longer. "Miss Rosenberg!" he yelled. "You are on trial for murder. You need to think about yourself here."

"Please don't worry sir. I know what I'm doing." Willow pleaded.

"You insist on requesting the removal of Summers testimony?" Judge Bone asked. 

"Yes, thank you."

The judge turned to Carlos. "I don't even need to ask if you still agree." Carlos just smiled.

The judge waved the two back to their benches and stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Both sides have agreed to remove the testimony of Miss. Buffy Summers from the record. You are to forget everything she has said and not take it into account in making your deliberations. Miss Summers, you are excused."

Buffy, her eyes now red with crying, left the stand. Everyone stared at her, not saying a word, as she walked down the steps and out of the courtroom. Willow had kept her promise, nothing official was left on the record that could hurt her custody of Dawn. But she had gotten a glimpse of how her life looked to outsiders and didn't like it at all."

"Since that witness testimony is officially disregarded, will the prosecution call its first witness?" the judge said.

"I call Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins."

Willow shot up. "Objection!"

"Well, this is new," the judge muttered. 

"I know you're not a real lawyer," Carlos said condescendingly, "But you can't object to a witness."

The judge motioned them to his podium again. "Explanations, Miss Rosenberg."

"We've just set the precedent that those who think themselves supernatural beings will not have their testimony believed," Willow said. 

"And this has to do with Miss Jenkins because..." the judge looked at her.

Willow blushed, "She thinks she's a 1122 year-old vengeance demon."

The Judge looked at Carlos. Carlos shrugged, confused. "Well, it certainly didn't come up in my questioning."

After questioning Anya and finding out that yes, Anya did think she was a vengeance demon and yes, she really was over 1120 years old, the judge dismissed her.

Carlos was furious. This had to be some kind of a trick. His witnesses were all friends of the defendant, they must have concocted this story. They had to in cahoots with the ACLU to ruin his reputation.

"Mr. Columbia, in my quarters, now," the judge said firmly frowning as he looked on the young attorney.

...To be continued


	3. Tempting Carolos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolfram & Hart tempts the prosecuting attorney in Willow Rosenberg's murder trial. What do they want and will they cut a deal?

# 

Tempting Carlos

"Now son," Judge Bone said in his gruff way. "I'm not going to ask what lunatic asylum you found these crazies who believe they are thousand year old demons and supernatural vampire slayers."

Carlos looked down at his feet.

"I'm not even gonna ask you what kind of cockamainy job of preparation you did that you didn't even find out that two of your witness were completely insane."

Carlos had wondered that himself. He mentally reviewed the questioning he had done. Both Buffy "The Vampire Slayer" Summers and Anya "Vengeance Demon" Jenkins had seemed totally normal. Buffy had seemed a bit guilty about turning in her friend but seemed motivated by a strong belief in truth and justice while Anya sympathized with Willow but seemed somewhat scared of her. There was nothing to indicate that both would break down on the stand like that.

The judge continued. "Ironically enough, the only reason why you have a the opportunity to make your case is that your opponent keeps getting your errors taken off the record."

Carlos reddened. "Sir I..."

The judge interrupted him. "I'll give you one more chance. If you can produce a witness who doesn't say he's a werewolf, robot, ghost, or some other monster, you may be able to make a case. If not, I'll suggest that Miss Rosenberg request that the case be dismissed for failure to present any evidence." Judge Bone frowned. "Now get out!"

* * *

 

'This has to be a set-up of some sort,' Carlos thought as he walked back to his office. 'The two girls are friends of the murderer. So they pretended to be witnesses for the state so they could sabotage their own testimony, make me look like an idiot, and then let Willow walk free.' So deep in thought was he that he failed to notice the pretty female lawyer who was now walking beside him.

"So how does it feel to be beaten by a girl?" Lilah Morgan asked the prosecutor. "A girl still in college, just a kid." 

"Go away," growled Carlos. 

"It really is quite amusing," Lilah ignored him. "She's been running the show since the jury selection and you still don't have a clue what is going on."

"Oh I figured it out," the prosecutor said stopping in his tracks. "I'll have perjury charges drawn up on the two of them and I'll prove they were faking..."

His rant was interrupted by Lilah's laugh. "You don't understand a thing you numbskull. Every word in that courtroom was true. Buffy is a vampire slayer and a very dangerous one. Anya is a vengeance demon. I ought to know considering what she did to my first fiancée. And Willow is a powerful witch who killed Warren Means with magic."

"You've gone insane," Carlos said flatly. "I should have known when you said Wolfram and Hart would represent someone for free." 

Lilah laughed again. "Flattery will get you nowhere." She reached into her handbag and took out a clear ball of solid crystal. "Take a look for yourself." She held the ball on her palm and said, "Activos"

Before the prosecutor's startled eyes the ball began to glow and then filled with a picture like a television set. He saw the chase with Warren pursued by a black-haired and black-eyed Willow Rosenberg. He saw the man grabbed by the vegetation, tortured with his own bullet, and then stripped of his skin at a single word.

"My God," he said. The image wavered as the lawyer shuddered. "It's real. All of this is real."

"Congratulations," said Lilah. "Welcome to the truth." 

Carlos' hand grabbed the ball. "This is vital evidence in a murder case. I am seizing in accordance to state law." 

"Oh come on Carlos," Lilah yawned. "My law degree didn't come out of a Cracker Jack box. That's the property of Wolfram and Hart, a law firm representing several clients currently being charged by your office. You can't touch it. Besides, you don't have a clue how to operate it."

Reluctantly, Carlos surrendered the crystal ball. "So what's your angle? The girl doesn't want you as her lawyer. Why are you still here?"

Lilah moved up against the man, moving her face close enough to kiss. "We still want to represent her. We have reason to want her to owe us... favors. If she doesn't want us now-and from what I've seen so far she has no reason to think she needs us -she may be more cooperative on appeal after she's lost here." 

Lilah looked into her opposite number's eyes and saw cold calculation. She gave a tight smile of victory. "Here's the deal. Wolfram and Hart provides what you need to win here. We'll bribe a few policemen, plant some evidence. It won't take much since Witchy Willow fortunately has given you a clean slate. You'll be spared the ignobility of losing to a kid. Then, if the witch hires us, you go down on appeal but to the best law firm in the state."

Carlos Columbia's head whirled. Magic was real. The murderess really was a witch, and now a law firm was offering to help him take her down. "And what do you get out of all this? What does she have that makes her so special that you want favors?"

Lilah smiled again. He was hooked, no question about it. Amused, Lilah answered truthfully, knowing it would be meaningless to him. "What does she have? Why, the soul of an angel."


	4. Xander on the Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Xander testify against his best friend? Will Willow let him?

# 

Xander on the Stand

Carlos Columbia, state attorney, looked at his witness, idly wondering if the extra weight of the construction worker was fat or muscle. "I'm sure Ms. Summers and Ms. Jenkins told you about their testimony yesterday."

Xander smiled. "I told Willow to watch some Perry Mason. Apparently it works in real life too."

Carlos glared at him. "In case you haven't noticed, you and Miss Rosenberg are playing on opposite teams here, Mr. Harris. If you cannot put your sympathies for the murderess aside, I will follow my better judgment and withdraw you from the witness list."

"My sympathy for Willow is the only reason I'm here," Xander said. "Warren killed Tara and almost got Buffy. He deserved to go down but legally, through the police. Not like this. Now Willow needs to know that there are consequences so she won't go all Dirty Harry Superwitch the next time something goes wrong."

"Thank you, Mr. Harris. But it's **my** job to make the speeches. Now, in light of yesterday's disclosures I have done some research and so have some unusual questions for you. For starters, you do believe yourself to be a normal human, not a slayer, demon, witch, vampire, robot or any other unusual being, correct?"

It was 7 AM when Xander entered the lawyer's office and 10 AM when he took the stand to the bailiff's "First witness, again," the last word given in an annoyed sigh. In the meantime, the young man reluctantly filled the prosecutor in on a tale that simply defied belief. Apparently this group of friends had saved the world many times from whatever the plural of apocalypse was. They had fought against vampires, ghosts, demons, robots, and even a god.

"You can't say that in front of the jury," Carlos was aghast.

"Don't I have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" asked Xander.

The lawyer hesitated. "As an officer of the court I cannot tell you to lie and have to turn you in if I do." His deal with Lilah was very carefully vague enough to shield him on that score. "But from what you tell me you actually know very little about how this magic stuff is done. You'll be just as much telling the truth if you simply admit you don't know."

"Oh," Xander flashed back to his school days. "I'm very good at that."

So Xander took the oath with a clear conscience. But he was surprised at the lawyer's next words. "I wish to declare Mr. Harris a hostile witness."

"Huh?" Willow and Xander said, virtually simultaneously. "Um, I mean I object," Willow continued alone. 

"Mr. Columbia, please explain." Judge Bone put in. 

The two lawyers approached the bench so the jury would not be able to hear. "Your honor, Mr. Harris is a long-time friend of the defendant since early childhood. While we've conferred, I can say honestly I don't know what he'll say on certain matters." Carlos ignored the judge's muttered, "He better not say he's another creature feature" and continued, "Nonetheless, he is now the only allowable witness to the final confrontation between the defendant and Warren Means. I wish to have him testify only in that limited area."

Judge Bone nodded and turned to Willow. "I don't suppose you know what a hostile witness means?" Willow shook her head. "Well, basically it boils down allowing the lawyer the same privileges a lawyer gets on cross examination so you can't object to leading the witness and such. It also allows the attorney to introduce evidence against his own witness to force testimony and to limit the questioning to a narrow area." Willow thanked the judge and returned to her seat while her opponent stood to confront Xander.

Carlos purposefully kept Xander's testimony brief. Xander testified to seeing Warren shoot Buffy and fire several other shots, to finding Tara dead, and to the confrontation between Willow and Warren. Satisfied that the right points were made he turned the witness over to Willow for her cross examination.

Willow stood up. She gave a smile that showed no mercy for Xander who cringed a bit upon seeing it. "So Xander, since you've sworn to tell the whole truth, tell me." She paused. Carlos was looking anxious. She smiled again, this one of pure mischief. "Tell me where *did* you hide my Barbie doll when we were six? I never could find it again." 

The courtroom erupted in laughter but in the spectator's gallery Lilah Morgan turned to her companion. "Very clever, she's reminding the jury that even longtime friends have their little spats while at the same time they will unconsciously see Xander as an unreliable man who steals little girls' dolls." Her companion simply stroked his grey beard. His eyes, somewhat unfocused, stayed on Willow.

"I think I just threw it on the roof or something," Xander replied.

"Okay. Now in your testimony this morning, you said you saw me instantly remove Warren's skin. How could I do that?"

Xander tensed and recited the answer Carlos had recommend he use if the subject came up. "I don't know. I can honestly say that I know of no way of removing the skin. But you're the one who took AP Chemistry." 

Several heads in the jury nodded. Carlos smiled. The girl had won yesterday by using her knowledge of her friends' secrets. Now, under his direction, Xander was using the same against her.

"Remind the court what you do for a living, please." 

"I'm a construction worker specializing in carpentry."

"And in that position, don't you have a greater working knowledge of chemicals and explosives than say a college student studying computer science and psychology?"

After Carlos' objection was overruled, Xander said, "I have a very limited knowledge of the common chemicals used on construction sites that cannot compare to the girl who won the Sunnydale science fair two years running." The audience laughed again.

"Okay. What happened next?"

"What?" Xander could not believe Willow would be asking that. She wanted the court to know how she almost destroyed the world? He barely noticed Carlos objecting on the grounds that Xander's testimony had been limited to the killing of Warren and Judge Bone's declaration that the aftermath of the murder was relevant.

He started to explain, "you tried to kill Warren's partners..." Willow interrupted. "Sorry, Xander, please describe what you saw, not your interpretation of it."

"Buffy told me that..." Willow interrupted again. "Xander, that's hearsay. Just say what you saw and heard yourself."

"Well, I saw you standing on the top of a truck that hit the car I was driving that had Andrew, Jonathan, and Buffy in it." Willow sighed. "Was I driving that truck?" Xander was forced to admit that she was not.

"Then you were fighting Buffy while Dawn and I took Andrew and Jonathan to hide." Xander continued.

"But did I touch them or use any weapon against them?" Faced with this carefully worded question, Xander could only say no. But there was no way he could mentioning magic to Willow's next question.

"And when was the next time you saw me?"

As Xander told about living through Willow's earthquake and stopping Willow from destroying the world by intercepting her magical beams with his body, saying he still wanted to hang with "scary veiney" Willow, he couldn't help adding. "I'm not sure about hanging with smug lawyer Willow, I do have some standards." 

Ignoring the jibe, Willow walked over to the bailiff's table, picked up the Bible used to swear in the witnesses, positioned the book so it could be seen by the jury and said, "So a carpenter saved the world; where have I heard **that** before."

Xander looked at her. "Beats me. I can't figure out where a nice Jewish girl who wasn't allowed to watch TV Christmas specials could have heard that." There was some nervous laughter from the jury who couldn't figure out whether it was Willow or Xander who was mocking their religion. 

As Willow put the Bible back down on the table, Xander could hear her muttering some words in a foreign language. This went unnoticed by everyone save for the man sitting next to Lilah who muttered to her, "I sense emanations from the witch." 

"Can you counter it?"

"I am... not certain," the wizard admitted. "Whatever it was, it was barely perceptible. It should be too small to have great import."

"Stop her," Lilah hissed. "We're paying you good money to counter her magic and she's far from stupid, whatever she did, there was a reason."

The wizard opened his mouth wide, wider than humans were capable of. Covering his mouth with his hand, pretending to yawn, he tasted the air. "A very subtle magic indeed. I sense it has not yet come into play." He redoubled his watchfulness of the redheaded witch.

Back in the front of the room, Willow had changed the subject. "One more thing, at your wedding to Anya, someone showed you something that made you leave her at the alter." Hearing that, a woman in the jury box glared at the witness. "What did he show you?"

"Objection!" yelled Carlos. "Completely irrelevant."

The judge looked at Willow who said, "I'll establish the relevance in a minute." 

"Do so quickly."

There was no way around it. Xander had to answer "He showed me visions that he claimed were my future if I married Anya. But they were fake."

"So in these illusions, you saw and heard things that weren't real?"

"Yes."

Willow pounced. "So, if I had all this magic power you claim, to cause earthquakes and dredge up old temples, couldn't I have created magical illusions of Warren's death? Illusions that you would mistake for reality?"

"Objection!" Carlos yelled. "The witness is not equipped to evaluate the defendant's magical powers." And I cannot believe I just said that, he thought to himself.

Judge Bone shook his head. This case would definitely get a whole chapter in his memoirs. It was stranger than the frog man or anything else he had encountered back in Rome, Wisconsin. "I can honestly say that all my years on my bench I have never heard weirder objections than those at this trial. Nevertheless, sustained."

"No further questions your honor." Willow said, knowing that the possibility of illusions had been planted in the jury's mind.

Xander wiped the sweat off his forehead. He'd rather do an hour of construction outside on the hottest day of the year than sit through another minute of Willow's verbal torture.

"Next witness," Carlos Columbia heard the bailiff say. He smiled to himself. He finally had a witness whose testimony stayed on the record. While his opponent had negated some of Xander's statements through a skillful cross-examination that suggested Xander had delusions of grandeur and a Christ-complex, as well as being subject to illusions, his next witness, thanks to Lilah Morgan, would say all the right things.

"The state calls Police Sergeant Gary Ravitch to the stand." The 12-year veteran of the Sunnydale PD stood up, placed his hand on the Bible that Willow had recently displayed to the jury, and with the ease of a man who had done this a thousand times before, said, "I, Gary Ravitch, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." 

As he stood up to begin questioning the witness, Carlos Columbia completely failed to notice that the man next to Lilah Morgan, the wizard hired to counter Willow's magic, had collapsed.


	5. The Prosecution Rests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Police officer Sergeant Gary Ravitch tells the whole truth in the trial of Willow Rosenberg, much to the surprise of the prosecutor.

Lilah Morgan spared her companion a quick glance as the wizard collapsed. Clearly, Wolfram and Hart standards were not what they had been back before Dru and Darla visited that wine cellar. She considered making a big disruption, demanding an ambulance, as a way of temporarily stopping the trial and get Wolfram and Hart to send someone else who might be able to figure out what magic Willow had just done. But, there was no way of knowing if that would take longer than simply waiting for the wizard to recover. Besides, Lilah realized, she did not want to leave the room and miss part of the trial. 

In the front of the courtroom, having taken the oath to tell the truth, Sergeant Gary Ravitch sat down in the witness box. Carlos Columbia opened with some standard questions, how long he had been on the force, what training he had received, and what his record was. At one point, Ravitch tried speaking, could not, blushed, swallowed, and then continued. Lilah Morgan, having positioned herself where she could see Willow's face in a reflection, noted her quick smile.

"At the time of his death, Warren Means was wanted by the police," the prosecuting attorney stated. "Could you tell me why?"

"Warren had continued to bother his ex-girlfriend, Katrina Silber, after they broke up," said the policeman. "He was wanted for questioning after her suspicious death two months ago. Then, he and two friends attempted to rob an armored truck. His two companions were caught but he escaped. Then he attempted to murder a young woman in Sunnydale, a Miss Buffy Summers. He severely injured her and did kill another woman in Summers' house, a Tara Maclay."

"What is the relationship of those two women to the defendant?"

"Buffy Summers was Willow's long-time friend. Tara was her lover."

"So when did you suspect the defendant in Mr. Means' death?"

"We had three witnesses to that death. Mr. Alexander Harris, a Miss Anya Jenkins, and Miss Summers herself. All, separately, fingered Miss Rosenberg as having killed him. Several policemen, including myself, identified her as the woman who attacked the police station where Mr. Means' partners-in-crime were being held. And..." Here, Officer Ravitch tried to say something, stopped, tried to talk again and stopped.

Carlos Columbia looked at his witness funny. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Gary Ravitch shook his head but said, "I'm fine." Lilah looked and saw Willow suppressing a giggle and then slipping her resolve face on.

"So what did you do after the witnesses reported a murder?" Carlos decided to continue despite the mixed signals.

"We sent a forensics team into the forest where we were told the death had taken place."

Carlos leaned forward. This was the crucial question; the one that Lilah Morgan and the Wolfram & Hart cash set up. "What did forensics find?"

Officer Ravitch started to say something that came out "Mmmruf" and then blurted out, "Nothing, they found nothing."

Columbia was shocked. "Nothing?"

"Oh, there were some traces of blood on the ground, but animals and nature do a good job cleaning up and we had a big storm and earthquake between the reported murder time and when we were able to send people to check the site. We could tell that someone had run through the area in an awful hurry but that was it."

Carlos Columbia was still surprised. "That wasn't what you told me before."

Ravitch tried not to say something but some strange form of mental pressure forced him to say, "I was lying before. I took money to give you false testimony." 

Pandemonium broke out in the courtroom. The noise was enough to wake the dead, or at least the comatose, as Lilah found out when her wizard companion stirred. "Truth spell?" she asked, barely giving him time to open his mouth and taste the air with his quick tongue. 

"Worse," the demon wizard said. "Geas spell. It activated when he swore to tell the truth."

"Can you break it?"

The wizard shook his head. "He voluntarily accepted it by swearing on a holy object. That gives it ten times normal strength. Perhaps, if I had supplies and could destroy that Bible, but from here, I would not even budge it."

While the two were conversing, Judge Bone gradually recovered control of his courtroom through liberal use of his gavel. Then he asked, "Mr. Columbia, can you tell me why I shouldn't charge your witness with perjury?"

"Your honor, he hasn't committed perjury under oath, merely lied in his previous statement to me. And if he engaged in conspiracy to commit perjury, why is he telling it to us now?"

"Good question," the judge muttered. As one they turned to Willow who was clearly enjoying the discomfort of those who had put her on trial. Although his suspicions were growing, the judge motioned for Carlos to continue questioning the witness.

"Was I involved in this bribery attempt?" Carlos asked. 

"No."

"Are you lying now?" 

"No, I am telling the truth."

Carlos glanced at the jury with eyes long practiced in at reading the faces of jurors. Not surprising, they were deeply suspicious. So, he quickly wrapped up the policeman's testimony, just getting on the record that Willow was seen at the police station shortly after the time reported for the murder, that she had somehow, Ravitch was not clear on how, subdued several officers, and that when she left, Andrew and Jonathan were missing. Then Carlos sat down and shuddered as he mentally drew up a list of questions he would have asked if he was the defense attorney. Although he hoped that the young woman's inexperience would help him here, Willow's first question dashed his hopes.

"You say you took money to lie on the stand, what were you supposed to lie about?"

Again, the officer tried to speak and then felt words come out despite his own will. "I was told to make up false evidence about the forensics, say that we had found remnants of the body and the weapon you used to kill Mr. Means, and that you attacked the police station with a gun and broke his partners out of prison."

"Any of that true?" Willow put in.

"None."

"So, aside from the testimony of the witnesses who have appeared before this court, what evidence is there that I murdered Warren?"

"None."

"What evidence is there that Warren was murdered?" 

"None."

Willow turned to face the jury. Her eyes radiated exasperated disbelief. "Is there even any evidence that Warren is dead?"

"Objection!" Carlos shouted. 

"Overruled," Judge Bone said. "I kinda want to hear the answer to this one."

"Just that we can't find him," Officer Ravitch was no longer even trying to control his answers. 

"Now, is there any reason why a murder and robbery suspect might hide from the police?" Willow asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Objection!"

"Sustained," said the judge.

"Sorry, is there any reason other than his death why Warren Means might hide from the police?"

Officer Ravitch shrugged and gave her what she clearly wanted. "He's a murder and robbery suspect."

"Thank you," Willow said politely. "Now you said I attacked a police station but that you were lying about the gun." Carlos considered objecting but decided he was better off silent. "What exactly did you see me do?"

"I saw you point your hand at the cells and the cinder blocks flew off." 

"But did I have any sort of machine or explosive with me?" 

"No," the officer admitted. 

"Then for all you know, I just happened to see the blocks move and so was pointing to draw everyone's attention to it." Willow said.

"Objection," Carlos said. "That calls for speculation on the part of the witness." 

Willow turned to the Judge, "The witness is an experienced police officer who..."

"Nevertheless sustained," said Judge Bone. "Move on."

"Alright," Willow said, turning back to the witness. "Now, you said you took money to lie about me. Who else do you know did the same?"

"Officer Krumkey, Officer Tracey, Officer Bridges, and Detective Stone," Gary Ravitch stated. "We met afterwards to make sure this wasn't a trap and that our stories all agreed." Carlos Columbia mentally tore up his witness list; these were all the names Lilah Morgan had given him.

"Thank you for being so cooperative," Willow smiled and sat down. 

"Next witness for the Prosecution?" Judge Bone looked at the ambitious district attorney.

"Umm," he thought quickly. He couldn't possibly use any of the policemen Ravitch had named. "I'd like to request a recess."

Judge Bone motioned him over. "I've given you all the breaks I can on this one. And so far you've given me a girl who suffering from delusions of being a superslayer, another girl who thinks she's over a thousand years old, a Jesus wannabe who left his bride at the alter because he was seeing visions, and now a cop who admits to being on the take. Oddly enough, my patience is over. Now, do you have anyone normal and credible to put on the stand? It's time to fish or cut bait."

Red-faced from the judge's chewing out, Carlos shook his head.

"Miss Rosenberg," Judge Bone said. "You can begin your defense now."

Willow rose, "I'd like to request that the case be dismissed for lack of evidence. The last witness clearly stated that there was no evidence that Warren is even dead."

Carlos shot to his feet, "You have the testimony of three eyewitnesses that..." he stopped, recognizing the trap Willow had put him in by pulling Buffy and Anya's testimony off the record. He stared at Willow in horrified admiration. Why the murderess may very well have pulled it off and get to go home scott free right then and there. "Her guilt or innocence should be a matter for a jury to decide."

Judge Bone looked at him. "Normally, I would agree with you on that. But nothing about this case has been normal. I need to think this over. I'll give my decision first thing in the morning. Miss Rosenberg, I suggest that you prepare your first witnesses just in case."

"Prepare to defend what exactly?" Willow asked. "A charge of witchcraft?"

Judge Bone ignored her, although he sympathized. He didn't see how even experienced litigates could defend against a charge of murder-by-magic without making the whole thing into a circus. "Court adjourned until tomorrow."

As the courtroom emptied, Lilah Morgan turned to her companion. "Very skillful use of getting maximum effect from a simple..." she waved her hand. "Anything you can do about that in the future?" 

The bearded demon sighed. "I am afraid I have failed you. You saw what happened when our magics clashed. And that was with a simple spell when she did not expect me. I am sure next time she will be forewarned."

"Very well, you are dismissed. You will be paid according to your effect - nothing." The demon strode out, anger straightening his back. He's lucky I don't just have him shot if he's so worthless, Lilah thought before remembering that he still had his uses even if he was not in Willow's league. Ah well, plans within plans. She reached into her purse and pulled out a cell phone and dialed her employers. "Hello, this is Lilah. I need some knick-knacks tonight. Five will do the job nicely and quickly." She looked again at the courtroom, walked over and pulled the window's blinds shut. No letting the sunlight in for tomorrow. She walked out of the courtroom humming to herself. Knick nack padywack. Throw the dogs a bone.


	6. Judge Versus Vamps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilah Morgan sends vampires after Judge Bone and the judge has a talk with the slayer.

Only half of Judge Bone's attention was on the road as he automatically drove his blue Toyota home from the courtroom. The other half of his mind was still in the courtroom, focused on the case and the dilemma it presented him. More, and more he was convinced that Willow was in fact guilty, but the prosecutor had completely failed to explain how. Instead, he was diverted down a sideshow of slayers, demons, vampires, witches, and magic. He heaved a sigh. Magic just would not work in a courtroom explanation. If a witch could kill with a spell, how could you prove anything? Illusions, false evidence, altered memories could all be conjured up with a wave of the hand. Could a spell cast in New York strike down a person in California? And how could you prove it? Why, the law would be reduced to tossing people into the water and see if they floated.

The judge parked his car in the driveway and got out. Lost in speculation, he didn't notice the five burly men moving toward him, blocking his access to the house. 

"Are you Judge Bone?" one of them asked.

"Yes, I am," the judge replied. "Courtroom hours are nine to five, I don't do business in the street." He took another step, but the men did not move out of his way. Instead, they... they... they changed. Their foreheads grew more protruded and wrinkly. And their mouths opened, opened wider than humanly possible, with more and sharper teeth.

"Oh, you will," one of them said. "You're gonna acquire a change of mind about a lot of things." The others laughed. "And a loss of soul..."

Suddenly, one of the five attackers vanished in a puff of what looked like smoke, or maybe dust. Standing in his place was a blond girl wearing black leggings and a tan coat. "But a judge is a former lawyer," the girl said. "Do they get their souls back when they become judges?" Judge Bone recognized the voice. It was the first witness in the case, the one who claimed to be a vampire slayer. He looked again at the beings holding him prisoner and at the pile of dust. Maybe 'claimed' was an inaccurate term.

"Slayer!" hissed one of the creatures that the judge was forced to recognize had to be vampires. Real vampires.

"Slayees," mocked Buffy as she lashed out with a kick, knocking one of the vampires into the judge's car. A black haired man came charging out of the night, catching another vampire by surprise and knocking him over and quickly staking him.

"Xander, protect the judge," Buffy yelled as she punched another vampire. Xander pulled out two crosses from his under his coat and gave one to the judge. Buffy used one vampire for leverage, jumping over it to summersault in the air and appear before another vampire, staking it. The remaining two were quickly subdued through a combination of quick jabs and kicks. Buffy immediately staked one and punched the other one hard to the ground.

Buffy reached down and pulled the last vampire up by his shirt. "This is Mr. Pointy," she said, holding up her stake. "I'm gonna ask some questions and if Mr. Pointy doesn't like the answers..."

"Poof," put in Xander.

"Who sent you here and why?" Buffy asked, brandishing Mr. Pointy at the vamp's chest.

"Master said to come," the vampire said hesitantly. "All of us were to sire the judge, so he would rise quick, and then do the Master's bidding at his trial."

Buffy and Xander exchanged a look. "Does this Master have a name?" 

"Only Master, he..." in mid-sentence, hoping to catch the slayer by surprise, the vampire tore his shirt out of the slayer's grasp and began to run. Buffy simply reached into her jacket, pulled out a throwing stake and threw it right into his heart.

"Vampires?" the Judge got out. "Those were vampires? Vampires are real?"

"Yup," Xander said. "Real, live, well undead anyway, vampires." 

Buffy looked around, she did not see any more vampires but thought it best not to take chances. "We need to get inside so you'll be safe. Then we need to talk."

"We can't really do that you know," the judge had only partially recovered. "You're witnesses in my case. I can't have out-of-courtroom contact with you that might cause a mistrial."

Buffy sighed. "In case you didn't notice, we just saved your life. I don't think talking to you will put you more in our debt. Besides, I'm off the case because someone didn't believe I was a vampire slayer." She gestured with her stake at the piles of dust. "Change your mind?"

The three entered the Judge's house. The decoration was male austere, although clean and neat, the place was obviously lacking a woman's touch. The judge led them down a hallway lined with bookcases to a living room whose cream white walls were broken by framed paintings done in Impressionistic style and the occasional photo. Xander lingered over a photo of the Judge and the Rome corner, Carter Pike, wondering why he was thinking of worms.

The Judge barely waited for Xander and Buffy to settle down before he began asking questions. The two Sunnydale residents, repeated the now familiar litany of vampires being real, magic being real, and demons being real.

"But how did you know they'd attack me?" the judge asked.

"We didn't," Xander replied. "Willow thought that someone seems to be determined to make her lose the case, with bribing witnesses and such, and that you'd be the next target since the prosecution can't put up any more witnesses."

"But why?"

"We've made a lot of enemies over the years," Buffy said. "Baddies who've tried to destroy the world that we've stopped. Demons, magic users and the like. And Willow's been helping with all that. Something may have realized that I'd be less effective with her locked up."

"It could even be one of the good guys," Xander said. "If they think Willow's too dangerous after what she did when Tara died." 

"Then everything said in the trial..." the judge asked. 

"Was completely true," Buffy answered.

"Then Willow really is a witch? And you did see her commit murder through magical means?"

"I'm afraid so," said Buffy.

"That's why she never actually denied anything in her opening statement. Why she insisted on defending herself..."

"Yeah, Mr. Judge," said Xander. "Let's talk about that. She's defending herself and I don't like what it's doing to her."

"How so?" the judge asked.

"Willow's always been good at justifying her actions, even when she's wrong," admitted her lifelong friend. "But she had been upset at what she did and remorseful about the whole thing with Andrew and Jonathan and even somewhat with Warren. But now that she's in court, it's all defense and denial. She's like pretending that she never did anything wrong, even making use of her friends to present this false front. That's bad for her and for the whole world if she feels there's no need to learn how to control her scary side."

The judge squirmed uncomfortably. "This is exactly the sort of conversation I'm not supposed to have with a witness."

"Xander, go by the door and watch for more vamps," ordered Buffy. "I was kicked out of the witness box so the judge and I can safely have a little chat.

She was such a little thing, the judge thought. But he was not in the least surprised when both Xander and himself obeyed the slayer's orders.

Lilah Morgan's phone rang at her office at Wolfram and Hart. Although it was late, Lilah had not left. She was expecting this call. "Lilah Morgan," she said. 

"Knick knack paddywack," the gavely voice on the phone declared. 

"Throw the dogs Judge Bone," she replied. "How did it go?" 

"You deceived me legalist," the voice said. "You said nothing about the slayer being there."

"I did not know," Lilah's thoughts were bubbling. How did the witch anticipate her? How much did she know? "Were they able to complete the mission?"

"They're dust," the master vamp replied. "You cost me five of my best children. I expect you'll provide me with adequate replacements."

"Of course," Lilah answered, frowning. The costs of the operation were adding up. And the next move was the witch's. Actually, she reconsidered, the next move was Judge Bone's.


	7. In Chambers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willow and the prosecutor meet in the judge's chambers to debate whether the trial of Willow Rosenberg should be dismissed.

The next day, Judge Bone had both the defendant Willow Rosenberg, acting as her own attorney, and District Attorney Carlos Columbia in his chambers.

"Now, Miss Rosenberg," the judge frowned at her from behind his high desk. "Normally, at this stage in the trial, the defense tries to rebut the case made by the prosecution and then the jury decides guilty or not guilty. Why do you feel I should just dismiss the case without these steps?"

Willow rose. She knew this was her best chance to end the trial right away without chancing what the jury may or may not believe. It was all up to her. "Your honor, normally there is evidence that a crime was committed. But, in this case, the policeman who was the prosecution's own witness said there was no evidence that Warren was even dead. Obviously, if there's no evidence that he's dead, there is no evidence that I killed him." She took another deep breath. "Normally, the prosecution describes a method by which the crime was committed. But the prosecution's only eyewitness to those events offered no explanation as to what exactly it was that I did and also claims I used magic to try to destroy the world." 

She looked at the judge wondering how far she should go. What she should admit. "Now I admit I had a motive to want Warren dead. But so did many others. If the prosecution claims I used magic to kill Warren, how do they know that this magic wasn't performed by the parents of Katrina, who he also murdered, or the president of the bank whose truck he robbed? Or the owners of the museum whose diamond he stole? A gunman has to be physically present and a poisoner needs to get the poison in the victim. But does a magic user have to be at the same site as the victim? Or could the bank president chant in Los Angeles and Warren drops dead in Sunnydale leaving the police to grab the nearest person with a grievance against him?" 

"In short," Willow continued, "I claim that the case should be dismissed for complete lack of evidence, for the unreliable nature of the prosecutor's witnesses, two of whom were actually dismissed by the court, and not least for the ridiculous and utterly unprovable notion of murder by black magic."

"Thank you Miss Rosenberg. This was very enlightening," Judge Bone said. "Please tell me, if I rule against this dismissal, what witnesses you will put on the defense?

Willow shot a quick look at the prosecutor. She did not want to give away her strategy. But if the judge ruled in her favor, she could walk away from the whole thing immediately. "The head of the UC Sunnydale coven will testify that witches don't really cast spells and that I only attended one meeting anyway. The magicians Marker and Talker will testify that there is no such thing as real magic as opposed to stage magic. And I have an investigator from a Crime Science Investigation team who will testify that bodies don't just go up in smoke. I also have a large number of character witnesses from Sunnydale High School and UC Sunnydale who will testify about, um me and about the reliability of the prosecutor's witness Xander Harris." 

"Very good," said Judge Bone. He was impressed that the girl did think of a way to defend against a charge of witchcraft. If not for his experiences the past evening, Willow might have convinced him. "Now then, Mr. Columbia, do you agree to the dismissal of these charges?"

Carlos stood up. If this case was dismissed, he would be the laughing stock of the DA's office, the prosecutor who accused a girl of being a witch and the lawyer defeated by a college student. And he was perilously close to that point. His only hope was that Judge Bone would live up to his unconventional reputation from his Rome, Wisconsin days. For Carlos was about to break the first law of lawyers. He was going to tell the truth.

"No, I do not. The case should not be dismissed for the simple reason that Willow Rosenberg is guilty of murder, guilty of killing Warren Means by witchcraft."

The Judge looked at him. "You didn't exactly do a good job proving it in the courtroom."

Carlos looked down at the floor. "No, I did not. I had trouble accepting the idea that witchcraft was real and I trusted the police who gave suborned testimony. I petition that we declare a mistrial due to the perjury of the police and start fresh with a new jury."

"I object," Willow rose to her feet. "The prosecution is essentially admitting it failed to prove its case and simply wants a second chance to do what it shoulda done right the first time."

"I agree," Judge Bone said. "The prosecution is quite out of line. But Carlos is right about one thing. You did kill Warren Means by witchcraft. Right?"

All was silence. Carlos's head swiveled back and forth between Willow and the judge, unable to decide who to watch. Willow thought quickly as her face turned red. "Um, ah. I can't possibly be required to answer that question! Isn't there a right against self-incrimination?"

Judge Bone ignored the girl's protest. "Warren Means was human being. Yes, from all accounts not a terribly nice fellow but still human, like you or me. You had no right to take his life, no right to seek the lives of his accomplices, no right to seek to hurt your friends who only sought to save you from committing these murders." He raised his voice to a dull roar. "And certainly no right to try to take the lives of everyone on this entire planet!"

Willow was shaking at his words.

"How does that make you better than those you fought against in the night! How does that make you better than Faith, who voluntarily entered prison and who stays there seeking her own repentance? Aren't you one of the monsters now, something for your friend Buffy to slay?"

"But.. But.. But.. Tara," Willow sniveled the tears leaving streaks down her face. Carlos was looking at the judge in horrified astonishment and confusion.

"Yes, Tara," the judge put in, waving his hands in their dark robes. "What would Tara think of you committing murder in her name, of using the darkest magics she had always abhorred." He took at deep breath and released the last of the weapons he had cooked up with Buffy the previous night. "She left you because of what you did with black magic to her mind. How much more would she have despised you for..."

There was a crack of thunder. Willow floated up, her eyes had the bleak blackness of outer space, no light lived in them. "No more," her voice was deeper, drained of its usual humor and lively melody. It echoed in the small chamber. "Silence!" her hand pointed to the judge's neck. He struggled to draw a breath but could not; there was a sudden obstruction in his throat. Carlos simply stared, stunned. But the judge's hand reached out and pressed a button usually used to summon the security guard who was normally stationed outside the chambers. Today, however, the guard was replaced by those better equipped for the situation.

Buffy strode into the room, her sword out of its scabbard. Xander entered, less confidently, his arms empty of weapons, carrying instead a photo album. Flanking the door were Anya and Giles, each with a different book open, ready to begin chanting. 

"How nice," Willow's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Willow versus the Slayerettes Round Two. I see none of you learned from the first time."


End file.
